Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, is located in a basin between the Khomas Highland, Auas and Eros Mountains. Whether due to pure luck or a brilliant stroke of Germanic planning, Windhoek is situated in almost the exact centre of Namibia. This has obvious benefits when it comes to governing a country the size of Namibia and also makes it the ideal place to start and plan any Namibian tour.
Windhoek is home to approximately two hundred thousand people - an extremely small capital by global standards. This number is growing rapidly mostly due to a lack of employment in rural areas. Despite the large increase in population over the last few years the city centre is extremely clean and mostly trouble free. Tourists often comment on the cleanliness and are surprised by it's cosmopolitan atmosphere. As can be expected from a capital city, Windhoek is home to many of the best hotels in Namibia. Windhoek also offers other accommodation ranging from backpackers facilities to up-market guest houses.
The Windhoek city centre is characterised by a proliferation of German style buildings - a lasting reminder of Namibia's early colonial history. Buildings such as the Alte Feste (old fort), Christuskirche and Tintenpalast (the parliament buildings) are of particular historical interest. In a typical display of unintentional Namibian irony, the Alte Feste Fort, once the bastion of German colonialism, now houses the National Museum which places particular emphasis on the freedom struggle and Namibian independence.
Over the years, Windhoek has had several names, the earliest of which was '/Ai//Gams' (/ indicates a click in Nama spelling) which means firewater and the Herero 'Otjimuise' or place of steam. Both of these refer to the hot springs in the area and it was also called Queen Adelaide's Baths for a brief time. Several opinions are offered for the origin of the present name, the most popular of these is that sometime before 1840 Jan Jonker Afrikaner, a Nama leader, named the area Winterhoek, after the farm in South Africa where he was born. Windhoek, or windy corner, is a corruption of this name.
Windhoek is a major trading centre for sheep skin. It sits on a sloping plain on the northern side of the Khomas Hochland (Khomas Highlands) at an altitude of 1,728 metres (5,670 ft). Windhoek was originally inhabited by the Herero, then became the centre of a Nama chief who defeated the Herero in the 19th century. Germany occupied the region in 1885, and the city became the seat of colonial rule in 1892 as the capital of the colony of German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika). During World War I Windhoek was captured by South African troops and became a South African Mandate under the League of Nations. Until the independence of Namibia was inaugurated in 1990, Windhoek was recognised as the capital city of South West Africa as administered by the South African government. Windhoek continues today as the capital city of the Republic of Namibia.
Climate
Windhoek is situated in a semi-desert climatic region. Days are mostly warm with very hot days during the summer months, while nights are generally cool. The average annual temperature is 19.47 °C (67.05 °F), which is high for a site at such a high altitude on the edge of the tropics. This is mainly due to the prevalence of a warm northerly airflow and the mountains to the south, which shelter the city from cold southerly winds.
The winter months of June, July and August usually experience little or no rain. Minimum temperatures range between 5 °C (41 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F). Nights are usually cool, although the temperature seldom drops below 0°C, and it almost never snows. Days are usually warm to hot, varying from a maximum of 20 °C (68 °F) in July to 31 °C (88 °F) in January.
Mean annual rainfall is around 360 millimetres (14 in), which is too low to support crops or gardens without heavy use of watering. The natural vegetation of the area is scrub and steppe. Droughts are a regular occurrence; dry and wet years run through a cycle that lasts around 10 years.
The city of Windhoek is traditionally known by two names: Ai-Gams, from the Nama people, which literally refers to the hot springs that were once part of Windhoek, while the second name, Otjomuise, meaning a place of steam, was given by the Herero people. Both traditional names reference the hot springs.
The early settlements of Windhoek came about because of the water from the hot springs. In the mid-1800s Captain Jan Jonker Afrikaner settled near one of the main hot springs, located in the present-day Klein-Windhoek, an upper-class suburb of Windhoek.
Theories vary on how Ai-Gams/Otjomuise got its modern name of Windhoek. Most believe the name Windhoek is derived from the Afrikaans word Wind-Hoek, meaning "corner of wind". It is also thought that the Afrikaners named Windhoek after the Winterhoek Mountains, at Tulbagh in South Africa, where the early Bastar-Afrikaner settlers had lived. In those days Windhoek was the point of contact between the warring Namas, led by Jan Jonker Afrikaner, and the Herero people.
In Windhoek, Afrikaners built a stone church that held 500 people, which was also used as a school. Two Rhenish missionaries, Hugo Hahn and Heinrich Kleinschmidt, started working there in the 1840s and were later succeeded by two Wesleyans. Gardens were laid out and for a while Windhoek prospered, but wars between the Nama and Herero eventually destroyed the town. After a long absence, Hahn visited Windhoek again in 1873 and was dismayed to see that nothing remained of the town's former prosperity. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees.
In 1878, Britain annexed Walvis Bay and incorporated it into the Cape of Good Hope in 1884, but Britain did not extend its influence into the hinterland. A request by merchants from Lüderitzbucht resulted in the declaration of a German protectorate over German West Africa in 1884. The German colony came into being with the determination of its borders in 1890 and Germany sent a protective corps, called the Schutztruppe under Major Curt von François, to maintain order. Von François stationed his garrison at Windhoek, which was strategically situated as a buffer between the Nama and Herero, while the twelve strong springs provided water for the cultivation of food.
Present-day Windhoek was founded on 18 October 1890, when Von François fixed the foundation stone of the fort, which is now known as the Alte Feste (Old Fortress). During the next fourteen years Windhoek developed slowly, with only the most essential government and private buildings being erected. In Klein-Windhoek, plots were allocated to settlers, who started farming on a small scale with fruit, tobacco and dairy cattle.
After 1907, development accelerated as people migrated from the countryside to the city and also some immigrated from outside the country. There was also a larger influx of European settlers arriving from Germany and white South Africans. Businesses were erected on Kaiser Street, present Independence Avenue, and along the dominant mountain ridge over the city, including the three eye-catching castle
The German colonial era came to an end during World War I when South African troops occupied Windhoek in May 1915 on behalf of the British Empire. For the next five years, a military government administered South West Africa. Development of the city of Windhoek and the nation later to be known as Namibia came to a virtual standstill. After World War II, Windhoek's development gradually gained momentum, as more capital became available to improve the area's economic climate. After 1955, large public projects were undertaken, such as the building of new schools and hospitals, hardening of the city's roads (a project begun in 1928), and the building of dams and pipelines to finally stabilize the water supply. It also introduced the World's first potable re use plant in 1958, treating recycled sewage and sending it directly into the town's water supply.
With Namibia's independence from South African administration in 1990, the city experienced accelerated growth and development. Windhoek became the seat of the first, democratically-elected government of the Republic of Namibia, headed by the president, Sam Nujoma. He was sreplaced by Pres H Pehemba.
Windhoek is twinned with the German capital Berlin (since 2000), Trossingen, Germany and has a partnership with Wetzlar, Germany
Points of interest in Windhoek
- Windhoek Christ Church - A Lutheran church. Construction on the church was begun under Pastor Wilhelm Anz in April 1896. After the end of the wars between the Germans and the Khoikhoi, Herero, and Ovambo, it was dedicated as the Church of Peace in 1910. The Lutheran Church, which was built in the gothic revival style with Art Nouveau elements, stands in the historic center of Windhoek. Its 24 m high spire was made, like the rest of the church, out of quartz sandstone. The exception is the portal and the altar, which are made of marble. The colourful stained-glass windows in the sanctuary were a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Church is next to the Parliament Gardens and Tintenpalast.
- Windhoek - St. Mary's Cathedral
- windhoek - Zoo Park - a public park on Independence Avenue in downtown Windhoek. The current park is landscaped and features a pond, children's playground and open-air theatre.
- Windhoek - Tintenpalast - German for "Ink Palace", is the seat of both chambers of the Namibian legislature, the National Council and the National Assembly. It is located just north of Robert Mugabe Avenue, and was designed by the architect Gottlieb Redecker and built by the company Sander & Kock between 1912 and 1913 out of regional materials as an administration building for the German government, which colonised Namibia at the time. The building is surrounded by the Parliament Gardens.
- Alte Feste- German for "Old Fortress". Built in 1890, today houses the National Museum
- Supreme Court of Namibia
- National Library of Namibia
- Windhoek Railway Station
- Windhoek Holy Cross Convent School - built in 1906
- Daan Viljoen Game Reserve -situated near Windhoek
- Windhoek Public Library - built in 1925, next to the Alte Feste
